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Stereotactic neurosurgery

In 1934 at the University of Basel under Eugen Ludwig, Josef Klingler developed a new method of dissection based on a freezing technique for brain tissue that eloquently revealed the white matter tracts. Klingler worked with anatomists, surgeons, and other scientists, and his models and dissections of white matter tracts remain arguably the most elegant ever created. He stressed 3-dimensional anatomic relationships and laid the foundation for defining mesial temporal, limbic, insular, and thalamic fiber and functional relationships and contributed to the potential of stereotactic neurosurgery1).

Neurosurgical laser ablation is a relatively new but rapidly growing application of stereotactic neurosurgery that allows neurosurgeons to treat many previously untreatable conditions with the added benefit of shorter hospitalizations and recovery times.

Robotic devices have recently been introduced in stereotactic neurosurgery in order to overcome the limitations of frame-based and frameless techniques in terms of accuracy and safety.